Tournaments

2018 ITTF Challenge, Croatia (Zagreb) Open

Andreas Levenko survives, notable names fall

13 Apr 2018

A place in the semi-finals of the Under 21 Men’s Singles event at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Croatia Open booked by Andreas Levenko on Thursday 12th April; but of the top four names scheduled to reach the penultimate round, he stood alone.

The no.2 seed, the 19 year old justified his highly rated position in the competition.

Andreas Levenko booked his place in the semi-final of the Under 21 Men's Singles event courtesy of a hard fought win in opposition to Artur Abusev (Photo: Robert Valai)

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

At the quarter-final stage of proceedings, he overcame the defensive skills of Russian qualifier Artur Abusev in closely contested five games duel decided by the very narrowest of margins in the crucial fifth game (14-12, 5-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9).

Defeats for the third and fourth seeds in the penultimate round; for Japan’s Yuto Kizukuri, the top seed, it was the end of the journey in round two. He was beaten by Moldova’s Andrei Putuntica in a duel resolved by the minimal two point margin in the deciding fifth game (5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10). Alas, later, he was to experience a third round reverse when beaten by Russia’s Denis Ivonin, the no.11 seed (11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8).

Progress to the quarter-final stage for Denis Ivonin but no further progress, in the round of the last eight he was beaten by Romania’s Rares Sipos, the no.7 seed (11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8).

In the penultimate round, Rares Sipos meets Aliaksandr Khanin, Andreas Levenko opposes Anders Lind; the Under 21 Men’s Singles event will be played to a conclusion on Friday 13th April.